Cutting your hair

[theanimal]

I do the same as @mF for my hair but usually going with number 6 for the longest hairs. Mrs. Animal asked me to start cutting her hair a few years ago. She isn't obsessed with her hair but nonetheless I was still very nervous the first time I did it. I have done it a few times since without issue. I follow the steps outlined in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBZ4ZMV ... FyaQ%3D%3D It seems plausible that someone could do this themselves if they have longer hair, but if you are able to enlist the help of a spouse, family member, friend or neighborhood kid, it will be a lot easier.

[Western Red Cedar]

I haven't paid for a haircut since I was 12 years old and have cut it myself with either clippers or a razor. DW got tired of paying salon prices for what amounted to a trim and now primarily cuts her own. She has long, straight hair. She simply puts it in a pony tail and cuts it straight across. I double check to make sure things look good, and occasionally have to make a few small adjustments.

[guitarplayer]

So I looked up corded Wahl since this seems to be the name of the game and I see them low priced on ebay - $25 with all the guards, scissors etc. - do you know if it's possible to buy a lemon this way? As in, perhaps one coming from a hairdresser equivalent to a car with hundreds of miles of mileage. Maybe not sharp anymore, maybe something else.

I have a battery powered Wahl CT12 5GG which is more of a bread trimmer but have been using it for head as well so long I keep it short (like Slevin). But yes would like to keep the hair a bit longer now!

By the way, I also have the manual trimmer like Rob Greenfield and this has been working great too if one wants to just trim the hair off. Takes a bit more time but uses no power other than manpower!

[Ego]

Over the years I have found and tried all of the professional trimmers before selling them. Today I have an Andis Professional Master, the one that most barbers use, which is really no different than the inexpensive Wahl. I use the #4 guard with the blade in the open position for the top of my head and then taper down to the 3 and 2 on the sides and back. I find it difficult to get the back straight so Mrs. Ego trims it for me. If we have an event where my military looking cut won't cut it, I let my hair grow for a while and then go to the Barber college down the street where they charge $7.

I cut Mrs. Ego's hair but she goes to a salon down by the border for every third cut. Her hair is curly so I basically just shorten it a bit.

[Chris]

So I looked up corded Wahl since this seems to be the name of the game and I see them low priced on ebay - $25 with all the guards, scissors etc. - do you know if it's possible to buy a lemon this way?

A corded trimmer is a very simple device; pretty much the same as when Whal invented it. Open one up and you'll see there are only a few components. There aren't any electronics, just a switch, some springs, and a copper coil to create a magnetic field. None of that should wear out. As you mentioned, the blades could get dull, or bent if dropped on a hard surface. And in that case, Wahl sells replacements.

But for $25, you can buy the cheapest Wahl kit new.

[take2]

I too use a Wahl corded trimmer, bought new for $25 and later another for €25. It’s not very ERE but it was cheap enough to just buy another on 220V for U.K./EU and leave the 110V in the US for visits back instead of dealing with transformers.

DW has been cutting my hair for the last 5 years or so, but not as often as I would like. Ideally I would go every 3 weeks, but in reality it’s more like every 6 or 7. Partially because she sees it as a bit of a chore and partially because neither of us like dealing with the clean up. In the summer she’ll do it outside which makes clean up much easier but otherwise it’s in the bathroom.

I’ve never tried doing it myself but may give it a go to liberate myself from the restrictions! It’s simple enough, just #4 on the sides and trimmed with scissors up top. I think the back would be the hardest but I guess a double mirror takes care of that.

[guitarplayer]

Yep a double mirror will work, it's also a good stretching exercise for the shoulders.

[take2]

I catch all the hair in a box and disperse it in our garden.

How does this work in practice? Do you stand in quite a large box?

I ask because my hair literally gets everywhere. 90% can be picked up easy enough but then I need to hunt down to get stray hairs by vacuuming. It’s a PIA

[Scott 2]

My wife cuts my hair and her hair. The haircuts are as good or better than anything we were getting from a professional. Three tips:

1. You only need to learn one haircut. With practice, it gets pretty good. This is a lot easier than knowing how to cut hair in general.

2. Maintain the clippers. Oil. Tension screw.

3. Buy plastic templates to guide the clippers / razor. This is how I do my beard. I have one template for the neck. Another for the cheeks. The result is better than any barber I've been to. I think they make neck line templates as well.

[AxelHeyst]

Take2 - A shallow 2'*2' box laid on top of the sink will work. I use a dropcloth - like a bedsheet or tablecloth - and lay it over the bathroom counter/sink area. Take it outside and shake it out.

[mountainFrugal]

@take2, same as @AH. It is easy to lean over the cloth while doing your own hair for the initial large shaves. There is always a bit of clean-up but I usually use this as an opportunity to clean up the sink area anyway. Any stray hairs are visible signs that an area has not been scrubbed.

[guitarplayer]

NB in a similar vein, when working with people with learning disabilities one way I made it easier for them to carve a wooden spoon in the wood workshop was to paint the areas to be chiselled out with a pen. Some nice spoons came out of it.

[Slevin]

@scott2 I don't know if I'll buy one vs just making my own out of some random plastic I have lying around but thank you for the tip on using a guide.

As someone not inclined to dedicating out full "clean x room" tasks, I agree with @mF on using it as a weekly forcing function to clean the sink, and I use similar methods for other bathroom areas / kitchen areas (really anywhere that requires cleaning more often).

[mountainFrugal]

....using it as a weekly forcing function to clean the sink...

I am much more of a dirt-bag when it comes to frequency of personal grooming and cleaning my bathroom than @Slevin, but it still serves the same forcing function.

[loutfard]

The Philips QC5115/15 is one of the cheaper and fairly ok corded ones for European eretics.

[OutOfTheBlue]

I use the Remington QuickCut myself. It's... quick.

[guitarplayer]

I do a quick shave with a longer guard (#7 or #8) on my entire head. Then I fade up the sides with progressively 2-3 steps down in guard size going up the sides of my head.

First time round my hair was short enough so I didn't bother to do the initial step of entire head with #8, but now it got long so I did just that and it worked great. Very happy with my Wahl, may it serve for decades to come.